The Scout.org website uses "cookies", both internal and from third parties. Cookies are small text files placed on your end user device and help us to distinguish you from other users, to enhance your experience on scout.org. If you continue, we'll assume that you are happy to receive cookies on our website. You can change your browser's cookie settings at any time. To find out more about how we use cookies and how to manage your browser settings read our Cookies Policy.

Dear Brothers & Sisters Scouts, today 24th of March 2014 is being celebrated as World Tuberculosis Day. TB is a Killer Disease like HIV/AIDS, but early detections could be treated and cleared from the body system. While the day is on, the key thing here is Getting tested.

I have in the attached document requested that State Scout Councils to partner with the State Government of their respective States, so as to establish TB Screening & Counseling Centres where feasible. Messengers of Peace Campaigns should be raised equally to create the Awareness on Tuberculosis, Its Preventions & Treatments. Doing this will be part of our Contributions towards making this World a better place. Should we require any specific questions, please let us get across to our Medical Doctors for clarifications.Please send me photographs of MoP Campaigns on the Eradication of Tuberculosis in Africa and the World at Large.

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB (short for tubercle bacillus), in the past also called phthisis, phthisis pulmonalis, or consumption, is a common, and in many cases fatal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis.[1] Tuberculosis typically attacks the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. It is spread through the air when people who have an active TB infection cough, sneeze, or otherwise transmit respiratory fluids through the air.[2] Most infections do not have symptoms, known as latent tuberculosis. About one in ten latent infections eventually progresses to active disease which, if left untreated, kills more than 50% of those so infected.
The classic symptoms of active TB infection are a chronic cough with blood-tinged sputum, fever, night sweats, and weight loss (the latter giving rise to the formerly common term consumption). Infection of other organs causes a wide range of symptoms. Diagnosis of active TB relies on radiology (commonly chest X-rays), as well as microscopic examination and microbiological culture of body fluids. Diagnosis of latent TB relies on the tuberculin skin test (TST) and/or blood tests. Treatment is difficult and requires administration of multiple antibiotics over a long period of time. Social contacts are also screened and treated if necessary. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem in multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) infections. Prevention relies on screening programs and vaccination with the bacillus Calmette–Guérin vaccine.
One third of the world's population is thought to have been infected with M. tuberculosis,[3] with new infections occurring in about 1% of the population each year.[4] In 2007, there were an estimated 13.7 million chronic active cases globally,[5] while in 2010, there were an estimated 8.8 million new cases and 1.5 million associated deaths, mostly occurring in developing countries.[6] The absolute number of tuberculosis cases has been decreasing since 2006, and new cases have decreased since 2002.[6] The rates of tuberculosis in different areas varies across the globe; about 80% of the population in many Asian and African countries tests positive in tuberculin tests, while only 5–10% of the United States population tests positive.[1] More people in the developing world contract tuberculosis because of a poor immune system, largely due to high rates of HIV infection and the corresponding development of AIDS.[7]
Signs and symptoms

The main symptoms of variants and stages of tuberculosis are given,[8] with many symptoms overlapping with other variants, while others are more (but not entirely) specific for certain variants. Multiple variants may be present simultaneously.
Tuberculosis may infect any part of the body, but most commonly occurs in the lungs (known as pulmonary tuberculosis).[9] Extrapulmonary TB occurs when tuberculosis develops outside of the lungs, although extrapulmonary TB may coexist with pulmonary TB as well.[9]
General signs and symptoms include fever, chills, night sweats, loss of appetite, weight loss, and fatigue.[9] Significant finger clubbing may also occur.[10]
Pulmonary
If a tuberculosis infection does become active, it most commonly involves the lungs (in about 90% of cases).[7][11] Symptoms may include chest pain and a prolonged cough producing sputum. About 25% of people may not have any symptoms (i.e. they remain "asymptomatic").[7] Occasionally, people may cough up blood in small amounts, and in very rare cases, the infection may erode into the pulmonary artery, resulting in massive bleeding (Rasmussen's aneurysm). Tuberculosis may become a chronic illness and cause extensive scarring in the upper lobes of the lungs. The upper lung lobes are more frequently affected by tuberculosis than the lower ones.[9] The reason for this difference is not entirely clear.[1] It may be due either to better air flow,[1] or to poor lymph drainage within the upper lungs.[9]
Extrapulmonary
In 15–20% of active cases, the infection spreads outside the lungs, causing other kinds of TB.[12] These are collectively denoted as "extrapulmonary tuberculosis".[13] Extrapulmonary TB occurs more commonly in immunosuppressed persons and young children. In those with HIV, this occurs in more than 50% of cases.[13] Notable extrapulmonary infection sites include the pleura (in tuberculous pleurisy), the central nervous system (in tuberculous meningitis), the lymphatic system (in scrofula of the neck), the genitourinary system (in urogenital tuberculosis), and the bones and joints (in Pott's disease of the spine), among others. When it spreads to the bones, it is also known as "osseous tuberculosis".[14] a form of osteomyelitis.[1] Sometimes, bursting of a tubercular abscess through skin results in tuberculous ulcer.[15] An ulcer originating from nearby infected lymph nodes is painless, slowly enlarging and has an appearance of "wash leather".[16] A potentially more serious, widespread form of TB is called "disseminated" TB, commonly known as miliary tuberculosis.[9] Miliary TB makes up about 10% of extrapulmonary cases.[17]
Causes
Mycobacteria
Main article: Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Scanning electron micrograph of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
The main cause of TB is Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a small, aerobic, nonmotile bacillus.[9] The high lipid content of this pathogen accounts for many of its unique clinical characteristics.[18] It divides every 16 to 20 hours, which is an extremely slow rate compared with other bacteria, which usually divide in less than an hour.[19] Mycobacteria have an outer membrane lipid bilayer.[20] If a Gram stain is performed, MTB either stains very weakly "Gram-positive" or does not retain dye as a result of the high lipid and mycolic acid content of its cell wall.[21] MTB can withstand weak disinfectants and survive in a dry state for weeks. In nature, the bacterium can grow only within the cells of a host organism, but M. tuberculosis can be cultured in the laboratory.[22]
Using histological stains on expectorated samples from phlegm (also called "sputum"), scientists can identify MTB under a regular (light) microscope. Since MTB retains certain stains even after being treated with acidic solution, it is classified as an acid-fast bacillus (AFB).[1][21] The most common acid-fast staining techniques are the Ziehl–Neelsen stain, which dyes AFBs a bright red that stands out clearly against a blue background,[23] and the auramine-rhodamine stain followed by fluorescence microscopy.[24]
The M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC) includes four other TB-causing mycobacteria: M. bovis, M. africanum, M. canetti, and M. microti.[25] M. africanum is not widespread, but it is a significant cause of tuberculosis in parts of Africa.[26][27] M. bovis was once a common cause of tuberculosis, but the introduction of pasteurized milk has largely eliminated this as a public health problem in developed countries.[1][28] M. canetti is rare and seems to be limited to the Horn of Africa, although a few cases have been seen in African emigrants.[29][30] M. microti is also rare and is mostly seen in immunodeficient people, although the prevalence of this pathogen has possibly been significantly underestimated.[31]
Other known pathogenic mycobacteria include M. leprae, M. avium, and M. kansasii. The latter two species are classified as "nontuberculous mycobacteria" (NTM). NTM cause neither TB nor leprosy, but they do cause pulmonary diseases that resemble TB.[32]
Risk factors
Main article: Risk factors for tuberculosis
A number of factors make people more susceptible to TB infections. The most important risk factor globally is HIV; 13% of all people with TB are infected by the virus.[6] This is a particular problem in sub-Saharan Africa, where rates of HIV are high.[33][34] Of people without HIV who are infected with tuberculosis, about 5–10% develop active disease during their lifetimes;[10] in contrast, 30% of those coinfected with HIV develop the active disease.[10]
Tuberculosis is closely linked to both overcrowding and malnutrition, making it one of the principal diseases of poverty.[7] Those at high risk thus include: people who inject illicit drugs, inhabitants and employees of locales where vulnerable people gather (e.g. prisons and homeless shelters), medically underprivileged and resource-poor communities, high-risk ethnic minorities, children in close contact with high-risk category patients, and health care providers serving these patients.[35]
Chronic lung disease is another significant risk factor. Silicosis increases the risk about 30-fold.[36] Those who smoke cigarettes have nearly twice the risk of TB than nonsmokers.[37]
Other disease states can also increase the risk of developing tuberculosis. These include alcoholism[7] and diabetes mellitus (threefold increase).[38]
Certain medications, such as corticosteroids and infliximab (an anti-αTNF monoclonal antibody) are becoming increasingly important risk factors, especially in the developed world.[7]
There is also a genetic susceptibility,[39] for which overall importance remains undefined.[7]
Mechanism

Public health campaigns in the 1920s tried to halt the spread of TB.
Transmission
When people with active pulmonary TB cough, sneeze, speak, sing, or spit, they expel infectious aerosol droplets 0.5 to 5.0 µm in diameter. A single sneeze can release up to 40,000 droplets.[40] Each one of these droplets may transmit the disease, since the infectious dose of tuberculosis is very small (the inhalation of fewer than 10 bacteria may cause an infection).[41]
People with prolonged, frequent, or close contact with people with TB are at particularly high risk of becoming infected, with an estimated 22% infection rate.[42] A person with active but untreated tuberculosis may infect 10–15 (or more) other people per year.[3] Transmission should only occur from people with active TB - those with latent infection are not thought to be contagious.[1] The probability of transmission from one person to another depends upon several factors, including the number of infectious droplets expelled by the carrier, the effectiveness of ventilation, the duration of exposure, the virulence of the M. tuberculosis strain, the level of immunity in the uninfected person, and others.[43] The cascade of person-to-person spread can be circumvented by effectively segregating those with active ("overt") TB and putting them on anti-TB drug regimens. After about two weeks of effective treatment, subjects with nonresistant active infections generally do not remain contagious to others.[42] If someone does become infected, it typically takes three to four weeks before the newly infected person becomes infectious enough to transmit the disease to others.[44]
Pathogenesis
About 90% of those infected with M. tuberculosis have asymptomatic, latent TB infections (sometimes called LTBI),[45] with only a 10% lifetime chance that the latent infection will progress to overt, active tuberculous disease.[46] In those with HIV, the risk of developing active TB increases to nearly 10% a year.[46] If effective treatment is not given, the death rate for active TB cases is up to 66%.[3]
TB infection begins when the mycobacteria reach the pulmonary alveoli, where they invade and replicate within endosomes of alveolar macrophages.[1][47] The primary site of infection in the lungs, known as the "Ghon focus", is generally located in either the upper part of the lower lobe, or the lower part of the upper lobe.[1] Tuberculosis of the lungs may also occur via infection from the blood stream. This is known as a Simon focus and is typically found in the top of the lung.[48] This hematogenous transmission can also spread infection to more distant sites, such as peripheral lymph nodes, the kidneys, the brain, and the bones.[1][49] All parts of the body can be affected by the disease, though for unknown reasons it rarely affects the heart, skeletal muscles, pancreas, or thyroid.[50]
Tuberculosis is classified as one of the granulomatous inflammatory diseases. Macrophages, T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, and fibroblasts are among the cells that aggregate to form granulomas, with lymphocytes surrounding the infected macrophages. The granuloma prevents dissemination of the mycobacteria and provides a local environment for interaction of cells of the immune system. Bacteria inside the granuloma can become dormant, resulting in latent infection. Another feature of the granulomas is the development of abnormal cell death (necrosis) in the center of tubercles. To the naked eye, this has the texture of soft, white cheese and is termed caseous necrosis.[51]
If TB bacteria gain entry to the bloodstream from an area of damaged tissue, they can spread throughout the body and set up many foci of infection, all appearing as tiny, white tubercles in the tissues.[52] This severe form of TB disease, most common in young children and those with HIV, is called miliary tuberculosis.[53] People with this disseminated TB have a high fatality rate even with treatment (about 30%).[17][54]
In many people, the infection waxes and wanes. Tissue destruction and necrosis are often balanced by healing and fibrosis.[51] Affected tissue is replaced by scarring and cavities filled with caseous necrotic material. During active disease, some of these cavities are joined to the air passages bronchi and this material can be coughed up. It contains living bacteria, and so can spread the infection. Treatment with appropriate antibiotics kills bacteria and allows healing to take place. Upon cure, affected areas are eventually replaced by scar tissue.[51]
Diagnosis
Main article: Tuberculosis diagnosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (stained red) in sputum
Active tuberculosis
Diagnosing active tuberculosis based merely on signs and symptoms is difficult,[55] as is diagnosing the disease in those who are immunosuppressed.[56] A diagnosis of TB should, however, be considered in those with signs of lung disease or constitutional symptoms lasting longer than two weeks.[56] A chest X-ray and multiple sputum cultures for acid-fast bacilli are typically part of the initial evaluation.[56] Interferon-γ release assays and tuberculin skin tests are of little use in the developing world.[57][58] IGRA have similar limitations in those with HIV.[58][59]
A definitive diagnosis of TB is made by identifying M. tuberculosis in a clinical sample (e.g. sputum, pus, or a tissue biopsy). However, the difficult culture process for this slow-growing organism can take two to six weeks for blood or sputum culture.[60] Thus, treatment is often begun before cultures are confirmed.[61]
Nucleic acid amplification tests and adenosine deaminase testing may allow rapid diagnosis of TB.[55] These tests, however, are not routinely recommended, as they rarely alter how a person is treated.[61] Blood tests to detect antibodies are not specific or sensitive, so they are not recommended.[62]
Latent tuberculosis

Mantoux tuberculin skin test
The Mantoux tuberculin skin test is often used to screen people at high risk for TB.[56] Those who have been previously immunized may have a false-positive test result.[63] The test may be falsely negative in those with sarcoidosis, Hodgkin's lymphoma, malnutrition, or most notably, in those who truly do have active tuberculosis.[1] Interferon gamma release assays (IGRAs), on a blood sample, are recommended in those who are positive to the Mantoux test.[61] These are not affected by immunization or most environmental mycobacteria, so they generate fewer false-positive results.[64] However they are affected by M. szulgai, M. marinum and M. kansasii.[65] IGRAs may increase sensitivity when used in addition to the skin test but may be less sensitive than the skin test when used alone.[66]
Prevention
Tuberculosis prevention and control efforts primarily rely on the vaccination of infants and the detection and appropriate treatment of active cases.[7] The World Health Organization has achieved some success with improved treatment regimens, and a small decrease in case numbers.[7]
Vaccines
The only currently available vaccine as of 2011 is bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) which, while it is effective against disseminated disease in childhood, confers inconsistent protection against contracting pulmonary TB.[67] Nevertheless, it is the most widely used vaccine worldwide, with more than 90% of all children being vaccinated.[7] However, the immunity it induces decreases after about ten years.[7] As tuberculosis is uncommon in most of Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, BCG is only administered to people at high risk.[68][69][70] Part of the reasoning arguing against the use of the vaccine is that it makes the tuberculin skin test falsely positive, and therefore, of no use in screening.[70] A number of new vaccines are currently in development.[7]
Public health
The World Health Organization declared TB a "global health emergency" in 1993,[7] and in 2006, the Stop TB Partnership developed a Global Plan to Stop Tuberculosis that aims to save 14 million lives between its launch and 2015.[71] A number of targets they have set are not likely to be achieved by 2015, mostly due to the increase in HIV-associated tuberculosis and the emergence of multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).[7] A tuberculosis classification system developed by the American Thoracic Society is used primarily in public health programs.[72]
Management
Main article: Tuberculosis management
Treatment of TB uses antibiotics to kill the bacteria. Effective TB treatment is difficult, due to the unusual structure and chemical composition of the mycobacterial cell wall, which hinders the entry of drugs and makes many antibiotics ineffective.[73] The two antibiotics most commonly used are isoniazid and rifampicin, and treatments can be prolonged, taking several months.[43] Latent TB treatment usually employs a single antibiotic,[74] while active TB disease is best treated with combinations of several antibiotics to reduce the risk of the bacteria developing antibiotic resistance.[7] People with latent infections are also treated to prevent them from progressing to active TB disease later in life.[74] Directly observed therapy, i.e. having a health care provider watch the person take their medications, is recommended by the WHO in an effort to reduce the number of people not appropriately taking antibiotics.[75] The evidence to support this practice over people simply taking their medications independently is poor.[76] Methods to remind people of the importance of treatment do, however, appear effective.[77]
New onset
The recommended treatment of new-onset pulmonary tuberculosis, as of 2010, is six months of a combination of antibiotics containing rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide and ethambutol for the first two months, and only rifampicin and isoniazid for the last four months.[7] Where resistance to isoniazid is high, ethambutol may be added for the last four months as an alternative.[7]
Recurrent disease
If tuberculosis recurs, testing to determine to which antibiotics it is sensitive is important before determining treatment.[7] If multiple drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) is detected, treatment with at least four effective antibiotics for 18 to 24 months is recommended.[7]
Medication resistance
Primary resistance occurs when a person becomes infected with a resistant strain of TB. A person with fully susceptible TB may develop secondary (acquired) resistance during therapy because of inadequate treatment, not taking the prescribed regimen appropriately (lack of compliance), or using low-quality medication.[78] Drug-resistant TB is a serious public health issue in many developing countries, as its treatment is longer and requires more expensive drugs. MDR-TB is defined as resistance to the two most effective first-line TB drugs: rifampicin and isoniazid. Extensively drug-resistant TB is also resistant to three or more of the six classes of second-line drugs.[79] Totally drug-resistant TB is resistant to all currently used drugs.[80] It was first observed in 2003 in Italy, but not widely reported until 2012.[80] Bedaquiline is tentatively supported for use in multi drug resistant TB.[81]
Prognosis

Age-standardized death from tuberculosis per 100,000 inhabitants in 2004.[82]
no data
≤10
≥10–25
≥25–50
≥50–75
≥75–100
≥100–250 ≥250–500
≥500–750
≥750–1000
≥1000–2000
≥2000–3000
≥ 3000
Progression from TB infection to overt TB disease occurs when the bacilli overcome the immune system defenses and begin to multiply. In primary TB disease (some 1–5% of cases), this occurs soon after the initial infection.[1] However, in the majority of cases, a latent infection occurs with no obvious symptoms.[1] These dormant bacilli produce active tuberculosis in 5–10% of these latent cases, often many years after infection.[10]
The risk of reactivation increases with immunosuppression, such as that caused by infection with HIV. In people coinfected with M. tuberculosis and HIV, the risk of reactivation increases to 10% per year.[1] Studies using DNA fingerprinting of M. tuberculosis strains have shown reinfection contributes more substantially to recurrent TB than previously thought,[83] with estimates that it might account for more than 50% of risk